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Set Review: 8689 Tahu Nuva
 Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 2:30pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager[Source: Roa McToa] On this Sunday we bring you the last review of the new Toa sets for this year. BZPower Forum Assistant Roa McToa shares her thoughts on Tahu Nuva, the brave Toa of Fire. Does he deserve a spot in your collection though? Read on to find out! So, you are at the store, eagerly waiting to buy your next Mistika set. You peruse the shelves that are decked out with the latest assortments of Lego sets until you get to the Bionicle section. You see a lot of lovely new sets, but the canister set with the red lid has caught your eye! Tahu Nuva lives in this canister, and he wants you to let him out! Presentation
So you buy Tahu, and take him home. First thing you see is a beautifully designed front on the box, with an image of Tahu flying over Karda-Nui. The packaging is very colorful.
Turning the canister around, you see images showcasing Solek and Tahu, and it demonstrates how you can attach the figures together like the Phantoka figures from the beginning of the year. Also seen on the back is a demonstration of how the Nynrah Ghost Blaster works. There are also pictures shown of the other Mistika for you to ogle at and want to buy as well. The canister lid is an interesting design featuring the Kanohi Ignika. Half of the mask is smooth, and the other half looks to be rotting away. The lid design is very creative, and not too difficult to open. Simply grasp the back edge opposite the mask, brace your arm on top of the lid, and lever it up. Pop! It opens up!
Onto the best part, Building the set! You have just pried the seemingly impossible to take off lid from the box, and dumped out the glorious contents within. There are many new parts, as well as some old parts in new colors seen here. Building
The melee weapon has some interesting new blade pieces that will be useful for custom creations. There are also some new �jet pod� looking pieces that have a lot of connection points, making yet another useful building part. The new wingies are also a nice addition to the fray. And the most noticeable new part is Tahu�s adaptive Kanohi Hau. While not looking too much like the old mask, it evokes power and wisdom for this new Tahu, and is very aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Lego did a good job designing this mask. The launcher is also all new pieces, and has building potential in MOCs. It�s fun to shoot to! *Pop!*
Starting off on the build, you start out with the Nynrah blaster. It assembles easily using only two grey pins to hold the plunger in. The spare bullet hooks into one of the forward facing pin holes, while the active ammo slides into the firing chamber. The ammunition is soft, and the fins are very bendy.
Moving on to Tahu himself, the build starts out on a Piraka-style build. The limbs are also a straightforward design that we have all seen before, but with minor modifications. The arms assemble next, and are also a familiar build.
Now that you have the figure primarily together, the decking out starts to happen. First off, you assemble the lower jet pods and attach them to the lower holes on the torso. After that, you assemble the uppers with the red wingies. After pod assembly, the leg talons are attached to the back of his thighs. At this point, you can pose the arms up, and it looks like some strange monster! BOOGAH BOOOOOGAH! :-P
Ok, now that you got the boogah monster out of your system, you can build and attach his head. The head really makes this set, as the mask is wonderfully designed. After you get the head attached, you can now build Tahu�s melee weapon. First off, you use that tripod connector, and place the blades on it. A tan spin pin is placed in the center hole, and the assembly is attached to the Bohrok shield. This weapon spins freely when not attached to Tahu�s hand. Upon attachment, the free spinning feature is disbanded due to the fact that the ball in his wrist holds the pin in place. A bummer for those who like madly free spinning bladey thingies...
Attach the Nynrah, and Bada-Bing! You have Tahu Nuva! Set Design
Yay! Now that the build is complete, you get to admire Tahu�s looks. The most noticeable cool new thing is his mask. It looks very appealing with its angular jowls, going up into the grille of his mouth, up to a smooth rocketeer-esque helm. The jet pods on his body are a nice touch, and certainly convey Tahu�s newfound need to fly. The melee weapon is a nice concept with some really neat new blade pieces. If the blade spun more freely, it would be better, but the ball joint of the wrist gets in the way. Nynrah blasters are a blast to blast, and launch their bullets fairly far for having a relatively small plunger. They do tend to fall out of the cannon if tilted downward though - only a minor setback. The legs look interesting with the claws mounted in the calves, but overall the uppers of both the arms and legs seem a little thin. The Piraka style build has been used time and time again, so there isn�t much to say there.
Playability
Now that the set is built, how does it hold up to a little torture� err play? Tahu is a fun set to play with. He looks like he can fly with all those jetpacks, and his blades are almost like a propeller as he rockets through your living room. The new style limbs hold up well to abuse, and are fairly tight, enabling some dynamic posing.
The figure is very stable, as the red Inika style feet spread the weight out nicely, and allow for more stability than standard narrow feet as found on Toa Gali. The new Toa are decked out with a lot more silver than their Phantoka counterparts. Some people dislike this new use of silver, but many like it. I myself find the new silver pieces to be a good thing, especially for use in MOCs. Final Thoughts
Overall, Lego did a good job designing Tahu, even though his body design is a little boring. He is well worth the cost, and you won�t be disappointed if you buy him. He may not bear much resemblance to his old self, but nonetheless he is undeniably Tahu.
Overall, I give Tahu a �Thumbs Up.� He is a set worthy of the purchase and will bring his new owner hours upon hours of enjoyment. So, what are you waiting for, go get him already! :-) And that is Tahu Nuva, in the plastic. If you enjoyed the review or found it informative, be sure to thank Roa McToa in the Talkback. Be sure to keep checking back for more reviews and the latest Bionicle news.
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